BEblog

Just couldn’t pass up the chance to share this photo.  One of our long term customers sent in the photo of a Burns sensor in operation for 23 years. 

We are proud of this record of reliability.  Where were you in the Mid 1980’s when this sensor was installed?

……………………Interphex Puerto Rico, March 4th and 5th. Booth #418.

Stop by and check out the most clean-able and easily calibrate-able Non-intrusive temperature sensor ever shared with the world. (that may be a bit bold, but it feels good)

If a trip to the Caribbean isn’t in your immediate plans, we hope to see you at Interphex New York in April.  We’ll have even more news to share then!!

Welcome to this months’ Calendar Challenge.  Just to cover the bases, if you are interested in the rules of the game, click here for rules.

Let’s play along.  Remember, participation puts you in the random drawing.

This month your challenge is simple.   Scan through the Blog and offer a comment on ANY post (other than this one).  When you comment, the process will request your email address, so please include as requested.  Your email will NOT be shared with anyone, but is our way to contact the drawing winner.  You don’t want to miss the possibility of being the winner!

Find something that interests you and click the comment button.  Fill in the requested info, then share a thought and click submit.  It’s that simple

Hey, you never know!  You and your office friends could be enjoying a nice surprise!

Thanks for participating.

Mothers Day, Valentines Day, Presidents Day…  Finally Engineers Week, Feb. 14 to 20.  Seems fair to me.

Celebrations are taking place around the country and on Technical campuses everywhere.  ASME is offering it’s members free electronic Eweek - eCards.  I’ve sent a few.  If you’re an ASME member, share the love with your engineering friends.  Not an ASME member?  Then call your engineering friends and wish them a Happy Engineers Week.

Do something technical!  The engineers at Burns will be whooping it up, running tests, designing Sanitary RTDs, performing Accredited calibrations, sorting thru reams of data and all that fun engineering sort of stuff.

What are you doing for Engineers Week?  Comment below and share!

In late January, the Committees developing the BPE Standard met in Puerto Rico working toward a publishing date in 2012.  That may seem like a long time, but given the publishing schedule, and the work identified to be complete, it’s actually a bit scary.

The group continues to be passionate about this important guidance.  The 2012 version will be re-structured to make it more user friendly.  Moving portions of the content into other sections, for example, the information about sterility and clean-ability of instruments will move to the section on Process Instrumentation.  Similarly the info regarding clean seals will move to the Seals section.  The passion shows up when the team member, (all volunteers) that have spent years developing the entire section on sterility and clean-ability (SD, Sanitary Design) struggles to be comfortable with the relocation of this content.  They want to be sure that the same love and care is provided to this important information.  It’s like sending your child off to college.  A combination of relief and anxiety.

The teams continue between gatherings to work on the development of the standard.  The next meeting is scheduled for June in Montreal. 

I have the honor of leading the Task Group developing the Temperature Instrument part of the PI section (Process Instrumentation).  I appreciate the assistance of my colleagues from other Temperature Sensor manufacturers as well as the BioPharma product / process representatives.

Chuck

The Applications Engineers at Burns have all the fun.  They have daily conversations with folks around the world about fascinating temperature measurement challenges.  This Application Note is just another example. 

See all our Application notes - Great lunchtime reading.

Thanks.  See anything interesting from your point of view?  Leave a comment.

Chuck

Welcome Calendar Challenge participants. 

The purpose of the Calendar Challenge (CC) is first and foremost to have a little fun.  Secondly to show our appreciation to our customers for staying connected with us at Burns Engineering.  If you’re interested in a few rules and guidelines for the CC -  Here you go.  Otherwise, here is the first interactive CC.

Visit the Burns Web Site and locate this image.

Click on the image.  A dialog box will open for you to tell us how long it took to find.  Provide your email address and you will be entered in to a random drawing for a special recognition prize.  Trust us, you’ll love it.

The winner will be contacted via the email address provided.

Happy searching and see you next month for the second Calendar Challenge.  Next month may be just a bit more challenging.

Your friends at Burns.

How deep does the interest in temperature measurement in the industry run at Burns Engineering?  So deep that Jan, Burns’ Customer Service Representative, went on a tour of a Power Plant with her family.  Here is what she observed at the Coal Fired Power Plant. 

I recently had a chance to tour a power plant and observe how coal is converted into energy to heat our homes, businesses etc.  To me the most interesting part of my tour was watching the coal cars being emptied.  The trains come in from Wyoming or Montana with 105 to 117 cars loaded with coal. Each car holds up to 120 tons. The cars are automatically pulled thru the plant and each car is completely turned over and emptied onto a conveyer where the coal is crushed to fine dust for burning. The long line of cars continue to move slowly thru the plant and each one is emptied one after the other.  As the coal is crushed, water is continuously sprayed over it to keep it compacted.  The plant burns coal at a rate of 30,000 tons every day; about 3 trainloads, or about 9 million tons a year. 

I was able to stand on the roof and look over the 4500 acres the plant is on.   There is a 88 acre coal storage pile with a 40 to 45 day supply of crushed coal piled high for burning.  I saw the main control room, the boilers and the large equipment used to move piles of coal out in the yard.  There are 3 boilers, each more than 200 feet tall, that use about 3,335,000 gallons of water an hour to produce steam.  All 3 boilers combined,  burn more than 1300 tons of coal per hour.   This is quite an engineering marvel and if you ever get a chance to go thru a power plant I highly recommend.

Jan,  Burns Customer Service.

Thanks for sharing your story Jan!

Chuck

The next RTDology session is scheduled for January 14th.  Curious?  Visit the RTDology page.  Just want to register? Do it.  It will be worth it.

This session will be an highly interactive question and answer session with attendee participation, covering a variety of topics from common temperature measurement concerns to a few subtle but potentially very influential issues.  Join the session, share your questions, listen to the conversation and gain some insight that will make you a Temperature Measurement Expert in your organization.

Register NOW!

If you have a topic you would like Bill to cover in a future session, visit the RTDology page and near the bottom, select “VOTE”  or the “Share…” button and describe briefly how we can help.

…….

The years, they pass, their unwavering rate

The pace of time, unchanging

Weeks and months, just moments in life

The future edges closer

Look back, you’ll see, the flash of time

What was, constantly fading

The view of next, what’s yet to come

So close yet out of reach

Is what, what is? or what could be?

What was, ours only to recall

Can? Will? Is? Yes? A question or reality?

The Future, not set, possibilities await

let happen or make it so?

It is our choice to let, or cause

Believe and Choose to create.

 The new year is an opportunity to create the future that you see yourself being a part of.

Happy New Year.  Make it a great, joyous, prosporous and exciting reality.